This will include the creation of "children's trusts" which will bring together local education authorities, health and social services.

Victoria Climbie's parents, Francis and Berthe, welcomed the announcement, saying that it showed "considerable progress in ensuring that children's welfare is given greater prominence".

Details of the green paper, Every Child Matters, were personally outlined to the parents on Monday by the Minister for Children, Margaret Hodge.

The minister telephoned Mr and Mrs Climbie in Abidjan in the Ivory Coast. And the Climbie's translator in England, Moor Juham, said Mrs Hodge apologised to them for the mistakes that had been made in Victoria's case.

Independent voice

The idea of a children's commissioner post for England was supported by Lord Laming in his report into the death of Victoria Climbie.

Victoria died in north London in 2000, after prolonged neglect and cruelty by her carers. Lord Laming's report said that she had been seen by various professionals who did not share information and failed to save her.

Wales already has a children's commissioner, and Scotland and Northern Ireland are about to appoint commissioners.

'Milestone'

The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children welcomed the announcement of a commissioner as a "milestone in helping to inspire a culture in which all children have a voice".

The green paper also promised to improve the the co-ordination of different professions and services working with children.

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Mr Clarke said that "too many children fall through the net" and that too often "warning signs are missed warning, with children passed from professional to professional, with no-one in overall charge".

As such, he announced the setting up of local children's trusts, with directors of children's services who will co-ordinate child protection measures across professions.

There will be a local database of all children within the area, showing information such as date of birth, the name of GPs and schools, and whether there had been problems, such as school exclusions, involvement with social services or trouble with the police.

This is intended to act as an early warning system, so welfare services can be more quickly made aware of emerging difficulties.

There will also be "safeguarding children boards", which will include the police, alongside services such as health and education.

Barnardo's welcomed the intentions behind the green paper, but expressed concern that proposals for children's trusts were too "vague".

It also said that chidren's services within national government remained split across departments.

"While there will be a single director for children┐ services within each local authority and a single named lead professional for each child, there still appears to be a lack of coherence at central government level," said Chris Hanvey, UK director of operations at Barnardo┐s .

The Conservatives said that the measures in the green paper would have to be backed up with sufficient staff and resources.

"All the welcome intentions will come to nothing if we do not have enough well trained social workers in the field and if we do not establish clear lines of accountability so that every local authority knows where the buck stops," said Conservative education spokesperson, Damian Green.